Sprint Upgrades NYC Network, Claims Fastest Downloads

Sprint says it achieved the fastest mobile downloads speeds in New York City thanks to a series of network upgrades, as the fourth-largest carrier remains under pressure to improve its service despite its heavy debt load.

Sprint s said it improved mobile download speeds to as high as 100 megabits per second and added capacity in New York by aggregating multiple channels of its licensed airwaves. Citing data from Nielsen Mobile Performance, a third-party monitor, Sprint said its average download speed in the city has surpassed T-Mobile tmus, AT&T t, and Verizon Communications vz since February.

Sprint dropped to fourth place behind T-Mobile last year amid complaints that its network coverage and quality lagged behind competitors. At the same time, the company is desperately raising cash to cover payments on more than $30 billion of debt that created a free cash flow deficit of $4 billion.

Sony Spends $212M on Altair to Make Sensors More Talkative

Sony has stepped up its Internet-of-things and wearables game with the $212 million purchase of Israeli connectivity company Altair Semiconductor.

Altair makes chips and software using the 4G mobile broadband standard known as LTE, and Sony said Tuesday it was particularly interested in the low power consumption and high performance of those products.

The Internet of things involves putting communications capabilities into millions of sensors that provides readouts on temperature, motion and so on. Some are plugged in, but many aren’t, and no-one wants to be changing or recharging batteries in these things all the time. Power consumption is a major concern.

This is particularly relevant when talking about LTE, which allows speedy and voluminous data transfers for phones, but can be quite draining. Companies such as Altair and rival Sequans are currently pushing chipsets using a lightweight version called LTE Category-1, which helps makers of low-power devices move past the old-school 2G tech their products have often been using to communicate.

Sony said it doesn’t only want to grow Altair’s business, but also to combine its tech with Sony’s sensors to “develop a new breed of cellular-connected, sensing component devices.” As Sony specifically brought up examples such as its navigation and imaging sensors, it seems likely that the Altair buy will help shore up the components it provides for connected cars, for one thing.

It also mentioned wearables, where it clearly wants to be providing more components.

The Japanese firm is very bullish on its sensor business at the moment, having shelled out $155 million for Toshiba’s imaging sensor division late last year. Around the same time, it also announced plans to set up the Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation to focus on sensors, mainly of the imaging variety — that reorganization will come into effect at the start of April.

Altair, which is headquartered in Israel, also has subsidiaries in China and Taiwan, with a total headcount of around 220. Sony expects the deal to close early next month.

Qualcomm Inks Critical Licensing Deal with China’s Xiaomi

Qualcomm is one step closer to handling its licensing troubles in China.

Xiaomi, the second-largest China-based smartphone vendor, and one of the biggest handset makers in the world, has agreed to pay Qualcomm QCOM a royalty on devices it sells that can connect to 3G and 4G cellular networks, the companies announced on Wednesday. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Qualcomm is one of the world’s foremost licensees of patents related to cellular technology. According to analysts, the company has 170 patents related to long-term evolution (LTE) cellular technology alone, and in its last fiscal year, generated $8.2 billion on patent royalties for cellular communication. That figure was up from $7.9 billion in the previous year.

Ownership of the basic methods that chips inside mobile devices use to connect to cellular networks are a critical piece of Qualcomm’s patent portfolio. If a device can connect to a cellular network on just about any mobile phone service around the world, a small royalty is technically required to be paid to Qualcomm for that right.

These patents are so valuable that earlier this year, Jana Partners LLC, which acquired more than $2 billion in Qualcomm shares, called on the company to restructure its operation and even consider breaking out its licensing business. The issue, analysts and investors say, is that while Qualcomm generates about two-thirds of its revenue from the production of processors running in smartphones and tablets (among other products) approximately two-thirds of the company’s profit comes from its patent licensing.

Qualcomm’s non-licensing revenue hit $17 billion in its last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 27, down from the $18.6 billion it generated in the prior year. Overall, Qualcomm’s profits slipped from $8 billion to $5.3 billion, year-over-year.

While those figures were enough to raise concerns among investors, China was also a major focal point last month, when Qualcomm announced its earnings. The company acknowledged that it has faced headwinds in China attempting to license its patents to device-makers. That market, which ships hundreds of millions of smartphones each year, had largely ignored Qualcomm’s demands for patent licensing.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has also proven difficult to work with. In Feb., Qualcomm announced that it had settled a nasty dispute with Chinese antitrust authorities over its licensing policies. The company was forced to pay a $975 million fine and change how it licenses patents for phones sold across China.

Qualcomm said that it was displeased with the findings, but would pay the fine. Perhaps more importantly, the agreement allowed Qualcomm to actively seek out licenses with Chinese device makers, albeit under the rules outlined by the country’s antitrust commission.

Since then, Qualcomm has been working to allay investor fears that China, the world’s largest smartphone market, wasn’t generating enough revenue for the company.

In November, the company acknowledged its issues in China during an earnings call, saying that it had secured more than 60 licenses there. Still, some of the country’s biggest competitors, including Xiaomi, were notably absent from that list. The company said that it was frustrated by how long it was taking to ink deals with manufacturers, but added that it was confident it could sign agreements.

The agreement with Xiaomi is a major step in proving that point. Xiaomi is one of the world’s largest smartphone makers and the second-largest in China behind Huawei. Xiaomi has set a goal of shipping 100 million smartphones worldwide this year. That figure does not include tablets, which could also be part of the deal with Qualcomm.

In February, Qualcomm said that it would charge royalties of up to 5% on smartphones sold in China. Those royalties would be based on 65% of the respective device’s retail price. Using those figures, it’s possible Qualcomm could generate significant revenue from the sale of Xiaomi devices for years to come.

Shareholders haven’t lost sight of that possibility. In trading on Wednesday, Qualcomm’s shares are up 7.4% to $52.96 in response to the Xiaomi deal. The jump stands in stark contrast to the troubles Qualcomm’s stock has faced this year overall—it’s down nearly 29% since January.

Still, it’s unclear what the future holds for Qualcomm in China. Xiaomi may have been an easier target for Qualcomm, since the company’s investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures, owns a stake in the China-based device maker. The company has confirmed Huawei, China’s largest smartphone maker and arguably the most important partner for Qualcomm to land in China, has signed the terms of the February agreement. Qualcomm did not comment on whether Huawei is paying licenses to Qualcomm. The company is expected to ship more than 110 million smartphones this year, alone.

Ericsson and Orange Test New Networks for the Internet of Things

Ericsson is working with Orange Telecom to test three networks for handling the expected deluge of data from a growing number of Internet connected cars, refrigerators, and industrial sensors.

The telecommunications gear maker and the French telecom’s tests, announced Wednesday, come as the mobile industry races to set new standards for a new generation of cellular networks known as 5G. The goal is to create networks that do a better job of funneling data collected by devices in the emerging category of the Internet of things.

Everyone from car makers to hospitals is recognizing that reliable connectivity is essential for their connected products and equipment. And now these firms are trying to have a say in setting the standards that will ensure it before a 2020 deadline for establishing a 5G network.

But it’s up to companies like Ericsson eric , Cisco, csco and Alcatel-Lucent alu to actually build the necessary infrastructure. That’s why tests like Ericsson’s and Orange’s are important.

Innovation based on the Ericsson-Orange tests will start appearing in networks as soon as 2017 according to Yasir Hussain, strategic product manager in the radio business unit at Ericsson. The first test is designed primarily to improve indoor coverage, and will take place in France over the 900 MHz spectrum that is used in U.S. for cordless telephones, baby monitors and microwave ovens. In Europe, and Africa that spectrum band is reserved for 2G and 3G cellular carriers. The goal is to improve coverage by seven times the current 2G networks so the signals can reach basements or remote outdoor monitoring locations such as those used on farms.

The second and third tests involves LTE modem-maker Sequans, and are designed to extend battery life and reduce costs for cellular connected device. Cellular modems are expensive, and the effort of sending out a wireless signal to cell towers can require considerable electricity, especially if the airwaves are saturated by a high concentration of devices or the signal is faint. It’s why your smartphone battery seems to drain faster in a crowded conference and where there is a weak signal.

Sequans is making a specially designed modem for Orange and Ericsson with only one antenna that uses less memory and processing power. Putting the modem to sleep when not sending data will reduce the drain on batteries. The result, in theory, will be a modem that is 60% cheaper and increase their battery life by up to 10 years.

The power-savings features will work on modems for 2G, 3G and 4G networks, while the cheaper modems with the reduced hardware will only be available on 4G LTE networks. Sequans is also working with Verizon on a cheaper LTE modem for connected devices that would bring the cost down to about $15 from $30.

AT&T Mobility’s CEO Talks About the Sci-Fi Future of Wearables

While consumers are still trying to figure out where wearables fit into their lives—if at all—AT&T Mobility is hard at work improving them. The goal: wearable fitness trackers and smartwatches that have cellular connectivity built in so you don’t have to worry about always having your phone nearby to receive calls or text messages.

Fortune recently spoke with AT&T Mobility T CEO Glenn Lurie about wearables today, connected wearables of tomorrow, and the impact they will have on our lives. Here is that conversation, edited and condensed for clarity.

Fortune: Can you paint a picture of the current state of the wearable market?

Lurie: We are at the infancy of wearables. I will say right up front: I’ve been very vocal for many years that the wearable will become an independent device — meaning, not necessarily having to be connected to a smartphone.

Today, I think we’re off to a nice start. I think people are starting to understand what a wearable can be. Most of the focus today is around fitness, or the health and wellness space. I do think that that’s going to change dramatically once you start to see fully connected devices.

We did just announce two smartwatches, Samsung’s Gear S2 and the LG Urbane, both with LTE. We are very excited about those, partly because of NumberSync. I think NumberSync is really a massive step for us, and for the overall industry.

What is NumberSync?

If you go back the first big enhancement for really Internet of things, or connected devices was when we went to Mobile Share Value. Our Mobile Share Value allows you to buy a bucket of data, then you can connect multiple devices to your account. Early on it was all about smartphones and tablets, today it’s about smartphones, tablets, cars, wearables, etc.

I think NumberSync is the second massive step and paradigm shift in that it allows you in the simplest way I can say, to take the persona of your smartphone and move it to other devices.

There’s a big simplicity to going for a jog or to dinner and you leaving your five inch smartphone at home. With NumberSync, you can receive calls and texts, and do all the things you can do [on your smartphone], on that wearable that’s on your wrist.

Outside of wearables, where else should we expect to see NumberSync implemented?

The system has the capability to go everywhere. I’ll give you a “day in the life” just for fun. When you wake up in the morning and you have a smartphone next to you in a connected home, you could theoretically have your home phone ring when your smart phone rings. You can have NumberSync linked to your entire home, and you can tell your home and smartphone how you want them to work together.

It’s the same concept we have with our Digital Life product [AT&T’s home security and automation platform]. Today you can tell your home by pressing one button as you leave to lock all the doors, close the garage, and turn the thermostat down.

Reality is, in the future that’s all going to be done for you. Your home is going to know where your smartphone is, your smartphone is going to know where your home is — it’s all going to be linked together. NumberSync is going to play a role in that.

Today you have to get in your car, you have to connect your smartphone to your car with Bluetooth or USB. That’s really going to be old school down the road. The reality is you shouldn’t even have to think about it.

Where do you see wearables going over the next five years?

I think the majority is going to be connected on their own. They’ll be independent, wireless devices.

I do believe we have a massive opportunity to truly dig into some other areas. The number one area is going to continue to be health and wellness. There’s a great opportunity in the healthcare space to make wearable devices a hub for your body.

What I mean by that is, my 77 year-old father is not going to put a device on and sync it with his smartphone. It’s just not going to happen. If I was to hand him a watch or a band that was comfortable and fully connected, I could check on him in a respectful way. I could see his vitals or give a doctor the ability to see his vitals. My dad is taking different medications and we could see his reaction to his meds in real time. These are massively important things.

I’m fortunate, I get to go into the double and triple secret labs and see some of these devices with multiple sensors on them. These sensors have the ability through biometrics to know who is wearing it. So when you put on the band it knows its you, and quits working if you were to take it off.

Now, start thinking about what is possible. The band has location and wireless connectivity. The reality is you’d never need another set of keys again. You’d never need to wear a badge at the office. You probably would be able to pay for anything you wanted, because that band is going to be linked to you. As you approach your car, your car would start and the doors would open, and all the settings would switch to you. Same when you walk into your home or office.

With that in mind, how big of a revenue stream are wearables going to have for AT&T Mobility?

A lot. I can’t give you numbers. What I can tell you is when you look at all the things we’re doing, especially AT&T, we are a leader in the Internet of Things space, have been for a long time. We view this as one of the key verticals in the space. We’re working with companies on every front.

The easiest way for me to say it is: It’s limitless.

As this technology gets better and less expensive to build, the number of uses is endless. There’s revenue to be made in selling hardware. There’s revenue to be made in the data analytics side of wearables. There’s revenue to be made in utilizing our networks.

All the car manufacturers are saying I want those wearables working for my car first. And all the farmers driving farm equipment want the same thing.

What percentage of wearables in 2016 will have some sort of cellular connectivity built into them?

It’s hard to say. When you start thinking about the watches we just announced (Samsung’s Gear S2 and LG Urbane) with 4G LTE inside of them, you’re talking about multiple hundred dollar items that are a little bit more expensive. You’re still going to see a lot of inexpensive fitness tracking bands that will probably still be dominant.

I think when we start looking at the five-year timeframe, you will see a higher percentage of fully connected devices.

This year has been interesting for wearables. Fitbit has taken off, Apple seems to be doing pretty well. Yet wearables as a whole haven’t really gained a lot of traction.

It’s one thing when people buy a wearable, it’s another at how long they use it. One of the reasons I think we’re seeing that is because wearables aren’t fully connected. It’s because the problems they solve are not big enough, or don’t bring enough value to the customer for them to say, “I can’t live without it.”

Think back to when we launched the first iPhones, when smartphones first came to be and got big. We’ve watched as people got into smartphones, and now you cannot pry a phone out of someone’s hand. They’d rather leave anything at home but their phone.

Inside Verizon’s big plans for the Internet of things

Verizon has made $495 million revenue so far this year from connected devices, or the so-called Internet of things, but it wasn’t enough. “None of us was satisfied with how rapidly it was growing,” said Mike Lanman, the senior vice president of Enterprise Products on the Product and New Business Innovation team at Verizon.

To ensure that number continues to grow, the telecommunications company has unveiled a strategy that involves partners, a cloud product, cheaper modems, and new data plans. But most importantly, Verizon’s executives understand that in the future where cars, factories, and appliances in the home are connected to the Internet success will be about selling applications not mere cellular connections. And those executives have learned from their past mistakes trying to force mobile apps on an unwilling audience of consumers, so this time around they are focusing on building the tools, not the apps.

“In the past what we were trying to do was we were trying to write applications and trying to develop the IP for music stores for example, and in this environment it’s just the tools,” Lanman says. “The thing you learn is that you should do the things that you do really well, and rely on domain experts that can do things better than we ever will and help them get to market.”

So what is Verizon vz doing for developers and those it wants to help? It created a cloud product called ThingSpace that resembles the platforms offered by IBM, Amazon Web Services, and other providers of developer platforms that can accept data from connected objects and let companies build applications using that data. More unique to Verizon, it is also offering lower priced LTE modems that developers can use in their products to connect them to a cellular network.

Lanman says that through a partnership with chip firm Sequans, and because Verizon is such a large buyer of the modems, Verizon can offer customers the chips for about $15—or half the cost of the chips if the developer were buying them outside Verizon’s program. While many connected products rely on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and then use the customer’s mobile phone for any mobile connectivity, there are entire classes of devices such as dog trackers, luggage trackers, and automotive applications that would benefit form an always-on cellular connection.

But the added cost of a cellular modem, plus the cost of a cellular subscription can make the final price of the device untenable for the consumer, or even corporate market. Which is why the lower-priced chip, and Verizon’s plan to offer flexibility on new data plans for “things” will help as well. Lanman wasn’t specific on what types of new plans Verizon would offer, but this is one area where smaller developers and larger corporate customers have been begging telecommunications companies for flexibility for years.

Lanman says the actual plans aren’t “smoked out yet,” but use cases might range from one-time usage fees to a pay per use model or even more traditional monthly plans. At an event Wednesday Verizon showed off some of the customers already taking advantage of these products it plans to offer on a wider scale, such as the Hahn Family Wines winery with connected sensors, and the Innova EV Car Share on college campuses.

As part of its emphasis on selling tools rather than building an entire application, Verizon is looking for partners and sharing revenue. Verizon now has 1,500 partners and Lanman says it has three teams looking for those partnerships with one focused on industrial use cases, another on consumer use cases and the third on telematics in cars. Verizon’s recently launched Hum device that connects consumers to their cars is an example of a product that crosses the boundary of both the telematics and the consumer group.

“We’ve figured out how to drive revenue, and it’s not a connections market, it’s really about how to grow revenue for your customers and serve your customer better,” Lanman says. He adds that Verizon has figured out that 80% of the revenue opportunity in the Internet of things comes from applications and 15% comes from the platform and only 5% is in the connectivity—so if Verizon were to only focus on connectivity it wouldn’t be playing in the market at all.

With this realization fresh in mind, Verizon has a lot of work ahead of it.

Since it’s headquartered in the epicenter of technology innovation, Facebook has decided to give its employees a taste of what users in parts of the world with less developed Internet infrastructure experience using the service.

To do so, the company is instituting a new initiative, dubbed “2G Tuesdays.” Every Tuesday, when employees log into the Facebook FB mobile app, they’ll be prompted to opt into using the social network at a 2G speed — instead of the 3G, 4G, or LTE speed most of us are used to — for the next hour. The goal is to show Facebook employees what it’s like to use their own product under these conditions, and help them take this under consideration in their work.

“People are coming online at a staggering rate in emerging markets and, in most cases, are doing so on mobile via 2G connections. But on the lower end of 2G networks, it can take about two minutes to download a webpage,” a Facebook spokeswoman told Fortune.

Facebook teams regularly tests the service’s performance on web and mobile apps by taking trips to countries where network conditions aren’t as advanced, and make improvements on page load times, data efficiency, app size, and so on. This new initiative will let any Facebook employee experience these conditions and potentially contribute improvements or ideas.

Facebook also operates two labs on its campus to help its employees ensure the service works well for all users. In its “empathy lab,” employees can test the service on a variety of devices, including lower-end ones that are common in emerging markets. At its Internet.org lab, operated in partnership with Ericsson, developers, even those outside of Facebook, can simulate mobile networking conditions and test websites and apps as they would work in emerging markets.

Here’s why crazy fast 5G wireless could soon become reality

There’s no doubt that the wireless industry will eventually move to 5G—a next-generation, high-speed network. Debate rages, however, over how quickly that may happen.

In an interview with CNET last week, Verizon Wireless VZ said that it plans to start field trials on 5G technology within the next 12 months, with the goal of making it widely available by 2017. AT&T T quickly responded to Verizon’s announcement by claiming that it was too early for any company to make 5G “promises” since the industry has yet to agree on an international standard and the technology is still in its infancy.

Alberto Canal, Verizon’s vice president of communications, disagrees and believes the telecommunications company can, and soon will, launch 5G technology. In an interview with Fortune, Canal reaffirmed the company’s plans to launch 5G trials next year, and believes Verizon—working with industry partners like Cisco CSCO and Samsung—will “beat the 2020 date” that most industry experts have set for an industry-wide 5G roll out.

Regardless of timing, carriers and industry experts agree 5G is the future of wireless technology. According to Canal, the technology is up to 50 times faster than today’s 4G LTE, network, which blankets over 97% of the U.S. It also allows for increased capacity to accommodate growing wireless demand.

The demand for wireless networks is nothing short of astounding. In North America, alone, communications firm Ericsson says mobile data users consumed 562 petabytes of data per month in 2014, far exceeding any other country in the world. In comparison, Western Europe used over 341 petabytes of mobile data each month during the same time period.

Tom Sawanobori, CTO at industry organization CTIA, believes mobile data traffic in North America will grow by 600% by 2019. A core component of that growth will be the Internet of Things—a term used to define smart devices that connect to the Internet—such as Google’s Nest Learning thermostat, which programs temperature changes based on a user’s habits.

While 5G may have its benefits some experts suggest talk about the new wireless technology is premature. Before 5G reaches the market, the wireless industry must collectively agree on an international standard, how it will operate, and what services to provide.

5G will require several “iterations” before a standard is endorsed, says Sawanobori. Although the new wireless technology is certainly an industry concern, the hoopla surrounding it right now isn’t necessarily warranted, he explains. “For the foreseeable future, 4G LTE is sufficient. But we always want to anticipate what the future capabilities will be,” he says. “So there’s a process in the U.S. and globally that will define the next generation. Meantime, 4G LTE is a great platform.”

Other industry experts, however, scoff at Verizon’s idea all together. Philip Solis, research director at ABI Research, believes Verizon’s 5G trial announcement is simply “fluffy marketing” and an attempt at “associating their brand with cutting-edge technology.” Verizon’s 5G hopes, he says, “is not realistic.”

Canal brushed off such charges, saying that the market is overestimating the amount of time it will take to deploy 5G. Verizon has established a 5G Technology Forum aimed at getting “some great minds into the 5G sandboxes…so they can get to work on the future.” Those sandboxes, Canal believes, could be a key component that boosts 5G’s rollout.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the challenges Verizon’s 5G plan faces. The U.S. wireless industry is fully entrenched in 4G LTE, and many companies are currently working on network improvements to LTE Advanced (the next iteration of the technology that promises faster speeds) rather than 5G.

Meanwhile, even if 5G was readily available consumers would require specially made devices built to accommodate 5G networks, and it’s unclear how long that could take. All of that neglects the simple reality that the industry—both in the U.S. and worldwide—needs to form a standard, which according to Sawanobori, could take at least two years to complete. From there, companies would build networks, although building networks is not the same as making them ubiquitous: it’s taken nearly six years to cover over 300 million Americans and in some parts of the world 3G, the technology LTE replaced, still isn’t available.

So, while there’s no consensus on exactly when we can expect to see 5G, at least one industry expert believes it won’t make a major impact on consumer lives until much later than some believe.

“5G will be deployed in full force—more coverage, more supporting devices, maximized implementation of technology—closer to 2030 than 2020 and the world will be very different by then,” Solis says.

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The next iPhone could have faster LTE Internet

Apple’s next iPhone could provide faster Internet speeds for users thanks to a new chip.

According to 9to5Mac, which has obtained what it claims to be photos of the next iPhone, the device will sport Qualcomm’s MDM9635M chip, also known as the “9X35” Gobi modem platform. That’s instead of the “9X25” used by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Qualcomm introduced the 9X35 chip in 2013, but due to long lead times in phone production, it didn’t make it into last year’s iPhone.

The chip’s biggest upside is that it can deliver up to twice the theoretical LTE speeds, though exact results will depend on the user’s carrier. As 9to5Mac notes, the chip can deliver up to 300 Mbps download speeds, doubling the 150 Mbps of the current iPhone model. However, the new chip delivers the same 50 Mbps upload speed as the old one.

This is the fastest wireless carrier in the U.S.

Verzion is the fastest network carrier in the U.S. for the second consecutive year, according to PCMag’s annual ranking.

Verizon beat rivals AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile in the magazine’s annual nationwide tests, which found all four major networks have ramped up their speeds in recent years.

While Verizon and AT&T remain the country’s two top carriers by subscriber numbers, Sprint and T-Mobile have boosted their coverage to become more competitive. The two smaller outfits once pondered a merger to compete with their bigger rivals, but regulatory pressure squashed any potential deal. T-Mobile is now involved in talks to tie up with satellite television provider Dish Network, which has been hoarding valuable wireless spectrum gained in government auctions.

More via PCMag:

Verizon Wireless wins for the second year in a row by maintaining the consistent performance and broad coverage we saw last year with its XLTE network. Almost all phones sold by Verizon in the past year have XLTE, which is the carrier’s brand name for Band 4 spectrum support. If you have an older model, it’s definitely time to upgrade.

The magazine records speeds from 30 cities across the U.S. to test coverage. Sprint was given a nod for most improved among the carriers.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans to acquire AOL in a $4.4 billion deal.